Q: supreme court case on trespass. legal description of lot 50' X 330' new home owner wants to reduce my lot by 5'
recorded documents incorrectly at county offices make a survey impossible without a boundry line agreement. with the new owner hostility and aggressive confrontations I put a fence on my legal description of lot. New owner will remove my fence if I don't sign over the 5' which i will have no access to the east side of my home to maintaine
A:
There is no such thing as a survey being impossible. Get a surveyor and work out the boundaries of your lot using your legal description in your deed and the maps filed with the county. A surveyor can file a new map with the county if the old map is wrong.
Land surveys sometimes have to be traced back to the original parcel that was subdivided to create the current home or lot designations. These old surveys are based on historical markers. Back in the old days when they didn't have GPS mistakes could have been made. Sometimes a new survey has to be done using the historical markers and rechecking all the subsequent subdivisions.
A: Talk to a real estate lawyer. It is possible to deed over the strip of land and reserve an easement that allows you to have access the side of your house where you need access to perform maintenance. Often all the adjacent landowner cares about is having the space legally added to their land so they have enough space to remodel or put in an addition. Your neighbor may just need the 5 feet so it will be counted in the minimum setback requirement when the neighbor applies for building permit. Everything else may be negotiable including the fence and what you can do on the land you have an easement for. It might actually be nice to have access to land that you don't have to pay the property taxes on.
Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.
The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.
Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.
